Free-standing patio heater

ABSTRACT

An outdoor, free standing area heater comprises a vertically extending housing defining an interior and a heat producing source for producing a flame that heats air and at least one glass tube directing at least a portion of the heated air upwardly inside the housing. An upper hood is located above the housing at a position for the heated air conducted by the at least one glass tube to impinge on the upper hood, the upper hood being shaped to redirect the heated air in a direction away from the housing and in a general downward direction from the upper hood. The glass tube is substantially surrounded by side panels that are provided with a plurality of cutouts in a wall defining each of said side panels, wherein the cutouts leave a percentage closure of the wall in the range from 1 to 65 percent.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present non-provisional patent application claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/956,378, filedJan. 2, 2020, by Sandra Vlock, and entitled “IMPROVED FREE-STANDINGPATIO HEATER,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to increasing ambient temperature for outdoorpatio heaters by enhancing heat distribution and radiation.

Outdoor free standing patio heaters conventionally include a propane gastank held in the base of the patio heater fueling a flame which risesthrough a glass heat tube to the top or hood of the heater which isshaped to reflect the rising heat downwardly to heat the area wherepeople are located.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art outdoor patio heater having abody or housing 10 and a top or hood 12. The patio heater heats a glasstube 13 by a flame located inside the housing 10. The housing 10 maycomprise a frame including uprights at four corners that are joined atthe bottom and top to each other by horizontal struts. Conventionally,propane gas or the like fuels the fire. The propane tank is carried inthe lower section 14 of the patio heater.

Conventionally, patio heaters are surrounded by a safety screen or grill18 of a uniform design having openings along the sides allowing heatfrom the heated tube to escape outwardly. The openings 19 are horizontaland spaced.

The size and shape of the hood 18 spreads the heat beyond the patioheater.

The primary heat dispersion for heating ambient air is the reflection ofthe heat downward from hood 12. But much of the heat in heat tube 13escapes through grill 18 before it reaches hood 12. Additionally,conventional hoods are fairly small and reflect a limited amount ofheat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, this invention is directed to a new screen aswell as a larger hood or top, each of which, individually and jointly,increases the heat distribution of the patio heater.

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention, the heatspreading capabilities of conventional space heaters is enhanced byadding to conventional heaters side screens, which can be made topresent decorative designs or facades, that guide more of the heatupwards to impinge on the heater's heat reflecting top or hood whichredirects the heat down and laterally to reach a wider area.

Preferably, the heater's conventional hood has mounted to it a topscreen that has a larger area than the convention hood and isfurthermore decorative. In a preferred embodiment, the outdoor, freestanding area heater comprises a vertically extending housing definingan interior and a heat producing source for producing a flame that heatsair and at least one glass tube directing at least a portion of theheated air upwardly inside the housing. An upper hood is located abovethe housing at a position for the heated air conducted by the at leastone glass tube to impinge on the upper hood, the upper hood being shapedto redirect the heated air in a direction away from the housing and in ageneral downward direction from the upper hood. The glass tube issubstantially surrounded by side panels that are provided with aplurality of cutouts in a wall defining each of said side panels,wherein the cutouts leave a percentage closure of the wall in the rangefrom 1 to 65 percent.

Preferably, the side panels surround the at least one glass tube, thecutouts render the remaining wall in the panels into artistic anddecorative shapes and panels are rendered in the shape of decorativescreens. Also, the panels are removably attached to enable changing theover visual appears of the area heater to meet individual artisticstyles and the upper hood is defined by a peripheral edge that impartsto the upper hood a give shape and area dimension and including agenerally laterally extending hood screen extending beyond theperipheral edge of the upper hood. The hood screen comprises a pluralityof hood screen cutout that impart to the hood screen an artistic stylesimilar to that of the panels.

For example, the upper hood is three-sided, imparting to it a generaltriangular shape, the upper hood cutouts leave a percentage closure ofthe upper hood in the range from 1 to 65 percent and the panels taperupwardly and inwardly as they extend from a bottom toward the upperhood. Also, the housing comprises a frame with at least three corneruprights and the cutouts form in the panels one or more of spiral, treeleave, and flower shapes.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the invention which refers tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art outdoor space heater.

FIG. 2 illustrates side screens mounted to a conventional heater toincrease its heat spreading functionalities.

FIG. 3 illustrates the heater of FIG. 3 with a novel hood that furtherenhances the heat spreading functionality of the novel outdoor heater ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

This invention, as noted above, is directed to a new screen as well as alarger hood or top, each of which, individually and jointly, increasesthe heat distribution of the patio heater.

FIG. 2 is a perspective photograph of the patio heater 20 of theinvention employing a protective vertical screen made up of one or morepanels 22 connected together, preventing access to the heated tube inthe interior of the patio heater. The panels 22 are flat and taperedupwardly and inwardly. The panels 22 or screens 22 are of irregulardesign as illustrated in FIG. 2. The irregularity and opacity ofvertical screen panels 22 maintains more of the heat from heat tube 13within the screens 22 and, therefore, more heat is carried upward to thehood. The panels may consist of panels that have been carved out topresent decorative designs or motifs, to be more pleasant to the eyes.

The panels 22 of the present invention cover more of the sides aroundthe glass tube 13 and therefore capture more heat inside the panels.That heat is reflected by the panels themselves outwardly through theinner area between the panels. Additionally, the panels retain more heatand radiate that heat outward because the sides of the patio heater aremore closed-in. Thus, the panels 22 improve the radiation andpropagation of heat to increase the ambient temperature outside thepatio heater as well as carrying more heat upwardly to the hood. At thesame time, the metal panels 22 absorb and radiate heat to the immediatesurroundings.

The amount of closure created by the panels 22 must be balanced againstthe temperature of the sides to prevent the panels becoming too warm tothe touch. The preferred range of percentage closure of the panels 22 isbetween 15-65% of the total area of the panels surrounding the glasstube 13.

FIG. 3 illustrates a novel design for a cover for the top 30 of thepatio heater. An irregular design is provided which overlays atriangular hood 32, the combination of which more widely radiates heatfrom the top to the surrounding area, increasing the ambienttemperature.

Prior art patio heaters primarily rely on the reflector hood 12 toredirect heat from the glass tube downwards, which limits the area ofheat distribution. The present invention provides a safe and efficientarea of ambient warmth but increases the area of ambient warmthdistributed by the irregular vertical steel grates 22, alone or incombination with the novel hood 32 of a triangular shape in conjunctionwith an irregular design for the top 30.

By increasing the size of the hood 32 which enhances heat reflectivitydownwards, the resulting heat delivered raises the ambient airtemperature as compared with the prior art.

As another feature of the present invention, the heat rising from theglass tube fire heating element is more evenly distributed and lessconcentrated at the top because of the enlarged hood 32, therebyminimizing safety problems. The present invention more widelydistributes the heat at the hood and thereby reduces the heat on thesurface area of the hood, providing a safer freestanding patio heater.

While FIG. 3 shows a hood 32 of a triangular shape, the hood could alsobe round or any other shape as desired.

In a preferred embodiment, a triangular hood is 15 inches on each side.

The metals preferably employed for both the hood and/or the steel panels22 can be steel or steel powdered coated stainless steel.

It should be understood that the preferred embodiment was described toprovide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and itspractical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the artto utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

As described above, existing reflector hood of the Prism style patioheaters are limited in size or diameter, thus minimizing reflectivity orheat delivery. This is principally a shipping and packaging issue, notdetermined by functionality. The dimension of the triangular hood of thePrism patio heater is determined by its tapered shape. As such, there isvery little surface area to reflect heat downwards. By increasing thesize of the reflector with a design that maximizes reflectivitydownwards, the resulting heat delivery and functionality issignificantly improved.

The existing reflector hood of the Bell Top patio heaters is limited insize or diameter, thus minimizing reflectivity or heat delivery. This isprincipally a shipping and packaging issue, not determined byfunctionality. The dimensions of the hood of the Bell Top patio heateris determined by its cylindrical shape and base diameter. As such, thereis limited surface area to reflect heat downwards. By increasing thediameter of the reflector with a design that maximizes reflectivitydownwards, the resulting heat delivery and functionality issignificantly improved.

In each case, the limited surface area of the existing hood designcreates a considerable safety hazard as the hood gets very hot. Byincreasing the surface area of the hood, heat rising from the glass tubefire heating element may be evenly distributed and so less concentratedat the top.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An outdoor, free standing area heater,comprising: a vertically extending housing defining an interior; a heatproducing source for producing a flame that heats air and at least oneglass tube directing at least a portion of the heated air upwardlyinside the housing; an upper hood located above the housing at aposition for the heated air conducted by the at least one glass tube toimpinge on the upper hood, the upper hood being shaped to redirect theheated air in a direction away from the housing and in a generaldownward direction from the upper hood; and the at least one glass tubebeing substantially surrounded by side panels that are provided with aplurality of cutouts in a wall defining each of said side panels,wherein the cutouts leave a percentage closure of the wall in the rangefrom 1 to 65 percent.
 2. The outdoor area heater of claim 1, wherein theside panels surround the at least one glass tube.
 3. The outdoor areaheater of claim 1, wherein the cutouts render the remaining wall in thepanels into artistic and decorative shapes.
 4. The outdoor area heaterof claim 1, wherein the panels are rendered in the shape of decorativescreens.
 5. The outdoor area heater of claim 4, wherein the panels areremovably attached to enable changing the over visual appears of thearea heater to meet individual artistic styles.
 6. The outdoor areaheater of claim 1, wherein the upper hood is defined by a peripheraledge that imparts to the upper hood a give shape and area dimension andincluding a generally laterally extending hood screen extending beyondthe peripheral edge of the upper hood.
 7. The outdoor area heater ofclaim 6, wherein the hood screen comprises a plurality of hood screencutout that impart to the hood screen an artistic style similar to thatof the panels.
 8. The outdoor area heater of claim 7, wherein the upperhood is three-sided, imparting to it a general triangular shape.
 9. Theoutdoor area heater of claim 7, wherein the upper hood cutouts leave apercentage closure of the upper hood in the range from 1 to 65 percent10. The outdoor area heater of claim 1, wherein the panels taperupwardly and inwardly as they extend from a bottom toward the upperhood.
 11. The outdoor area heater of claim 1, wherein the housingcomprises a frame with at least three corner uprights.
 12. The outdoorarea heater of claim 1, wherein the cutouts form in the panels one ormore of spiral, tree leave, and flower shapes.